By David Rogers. EL PASO, Texas — Not even a minor leg injury that kept him off the field in the second half of the Dec. 31 Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl could dampen Anderson Castle’s enthusiasm for Duke’s 42-39 win over Arizona State.
It was a devilish good time, with the Blue Devils facing the Sun Devils. A three-yard run into the end zone late in the first half for a touchdown was just icing on the proverbial cake for Castle, who played his last collegiate football game against Arizona State in the historic, 92nd Sun Bowl.
Castle is a compelling Watauga County story. A four-year starter at quarterback for head coach Ryan Habich’s Watauga High School Pioneers, he enrolled at App State as a defensive back, with a four-year, “full ride” scholarship. It wasn’t long before the Mountaineers moved him to outside linebacker.
Then, on one fateful day during practice, then Mountaineer head coach Shawn Clark was assessing a running back room that had been thinned out by injuries. As he passed the water cooler, the story goes, he saw Castle and asked “You played option QB at Watauga, right? You are now a running back at App State.”
Castle embraced the challenge of converting to running back and showed flashes of talent for the position, talent that Pioneer football fans already knew about. He battled minor injuries that limited his appearances the first couple of season. After hitting the weight room and beefing up, he showed a lot of power in his second year at the position, especially in short-yardage situations but never seemed to be effectively utilized while playing for the Mountaineers.
So with a coaching change for the 2025 season, his final year of eligibility, Castle entered the transfer portal and, having earned his undergraduate degree at App State, chose to pursue an MBA at Duke — and play football for the Blue Devils, too.
“I can hardly put into words how thankful I am for my decision to transfer to Duke for this final year of eligibility,” Castle recalled in a post-game one-on-one in El Paso with High Country Sports. “God had a plan for me and I am thankful to be here. The people at Duke have been amazing. I transferred here not really knowing what it was going to be like, how everything was going to go. I just trusted God’s plan. The people around me helped out so much. I made so many good friends and those friendships will last a lifetime. I am just thankful for this journey. It has been awesome.”
The year of both gridiron and personal success did not come without work, both in the weight room and on the practice field.
“On the football team, I carved out a role in short-yardage situations. I worked hard in the spring and in fall camp. I have to give a shoutout to Coach (Chris) Foster (assistant coach/running backs). It has worked out well and I am very happy to have done this,” said Castle about his year with the Blue Devils.
“There have been so many special moments,” he added. “I don’t think I can pinpoint just one. There were a lot of fun games and definitely our winning the ACC championship this year was special. The three TDs against North Carolina and NC State, those were definitely memorable games. Clemson… I didn’t have a lot of stats against Clemson but that sticks out as one of the most fun games I will look back on.”
The former Pioneer QB was especially appreciative of the opportunity to play in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl.
“This bowl game is historic,” said Castle. “I heard it is the second oldest bowl game. It was an honor to be able to play in it. The Sun Bowl organizing committee treated us so well this whole week. It was a great bowl experience. Ultimately, the goal was for us to get a win and that is what we did.
“I couldn’t go the second half today,” he explained. “My leg was pretty banged up and I felt it was better if someone else was in.”
While Castle may not be wrangling any more TDs in college, he is bringing home some of El Paso’s cowboy culture.
“I couldn’t pass up the deal Lucchese, a Sun Bowl sponsor, gave us on boots. I have bought cowboy boots before, but not this kind of quality,” said Castle of the handcrafting bootmaker, which has collaborations with the Dallas Cowboys, the University of Texas Longhorns, the University of Texas A&M Aggies, and country-western star Chris Stapleton, as well as the Sun Bowl and others.
Castle finished his last year of eligibility with the Blue Devils tied for No. 30 in the nation for rushing touchdowns, with 12 in 14 games this season. He was one of Duke’s go-to guys in short yardage situations, including as No. 9 in the ACC for scoring TDs, all rushing and responsible for 72 of the Blue Devils’ points, according to the ACC website.
App State’s Shawn Clark, the late and former head coach, once described Castle to High Country Sports as potentially “the next John Riggins,” the former Washington Redskins power running back. Others have suggested he reminds them of Larry Csonka, the former Miami Dolphins’ fullback. Both men emerged as Hall of Fame running backs, Csonka in the 1970s and Riggins in the 1980s and 1990s.
Whether Castle chooses to pursue a football career at the next level is a question yet to be answered. In addition to his power, we learned from covering him as an option quarterback at Watauga that he also has exceptional flat-out speed (which he flashed at Duke) as well as a quick lateral step, all good attributes for NFL running backs.
Will he get that opportunity? Or does God have other plans for his coming MBA degree from Duke University?
Editor’s Note: This story has been corrected to reflect Castle’s receiving a full, four-year scholarship, not a preferred walk-on opportunity as originally reported.
